


Fright

by AnabielVriskaMars



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, I shouldnt even be doing this, Multichapter, but no one is stopping me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 20:33:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1278061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnabielVriskaMars/pseuds/AnabielVriskaMars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She stands there, bathed in light.</p><p>She's shining. Shining brighter than snow.</p><p>There's a shadow behind her though. Its growing and growing and she doesn't see it because her eyes are swimming in fear.</p><p>You step forward. This has gone too far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction: Your Name Is Jack Frost

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't intending on writing this. I was actually being a responsible student and paying attention to class, when my phone received enough JackElsa pictures to crash it. I told myself I wouldn't do it, but nobody stopped me.
> 
> So here, even though I don't usually like crossovers, I ship this way too hard not to.

You have only the vaguest memories of your past self.

Your first clear memory is of a Moon watching you rise from a frozen lake in the middle of winter and not feeling the sharp bite of the cold wind around you. You stepped into a forrest knowing nothing, other than a single word that bounced across your head, with the blowing winds whispering it into your ear so that the words melded with the ones in your head. You hear them like the tussle of icicles crashing against each other, singing a song of delicacy and beauty and loneliness.

_Jack Frost._

It is your name, you know.

You don't know much else. The moon watches you stumble out of the brittle layer of ice that covers the lake and into a forrest, within you see the threshold of autumn.

Its strange. On one side, you see oranges and yellows and browns and the gentle layers of life shifting into the end of their cycle to start again, but then at your left there is no life. There's white and clearness and wind and transparency and its not natural.

Its not  _natural._

Your bones ache with slivers of ice bypassing your skin and making a nest inside of you. It is a good ache, you realize. It is the ache of strengthening that's weeding out the weakness of your elder self, whatever it may be.

Thoughtlessly, you place a palm on the bark of a tree, and from the core of your being you feel yourself becoming fuller of something, only for it to abandon you through your extended arm against the tree. The path it carves upon you is pleasant, and it feels as if something is growing from your heart and running into the tree, and the tree is receiving it, drinking it, even, and a stray spot of white begins overtaking it.

Brown gives away to white, as life gives into death and the colors of the leaves shrivel slowly into themselves and the tree becomes just like everything behind you:

white white white

This order gives you a sense of relief. Color must give away to absence and autumn shall give away to winter.

Your name is Jack Frost, and your trade is Winter.

From above, you feel as if the moon smiles at you like a mother watching her child grow.

 

 

 

Its been some times since you woke.

You've watched children turn into adults, and adults turn into old people, their hair always turning slowly white until they perish.

You're not bothered by this, because it won't happen to you, and its just as well. The only thing you envy is the mark that everyone who passes by leaves behind.

You leave no footprints in the snow.

For the last few decades or so, you have thrived in this small town, playing with children who can't play with you, watching people who can't watch you and being the most (miserable) joyous nature spirit around. You have watched the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Rabbit and the Sandman and Santa Claus work endlessly each through their times, while you rest on a dying branch and watch the children play and grow and hurt and love and go on and on and on.

You prank them sometimes. That's the most fun.

You remember a small boy, Jared, always teasing a girl, Margaret. He would push her into the snow and bury her feet and laugh while she cried for her brother to help her. For some reason, you were rather fond of Jared, and saw a piece of you in him.

Jared grew, though, and things changed, not delicately, as the sun rising into the sky, but suddenly, as the shattering of

( _the lake the girl the water was cold there was nothing only that cane and her hair was brownbrownbrown)_

ice when being slammed against something harder.

You were in the forrest, waiting to see what Jared would do, ready to help from the shadows. He always comes alone, but this time, you saw him with someone.

You saw the red pigtails and recognized Margaret, tripping into the snow and laughing. You watched Jared help her up.

She grinned.

He blushed.

Snow settled into your bones. 

You new you'd lost him.

Which is why when they came back by the end of Winter and he took her to the lake, you dropped a heap of snow on top of her, just to remind Jared how much fun it was.

But Jared didn't laugh. He yelped and helped Margaret out of the snow. He wasn't blushing and she wasn't laughing.

They were no longer kids.

That's when you decided it was time to leave this town behind.

That's when you decided to go to Arendale.


	2. Wide Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its saturday night and I'm babysitting. Might as well write a bit. Is this getting cliche? I hope not.

Arendelle is warm.

You don't precisely _feel_ it with your skin, but you can see it.

You see it in girls wearing summer skirts, and in boys with wet hair from the lake, and in grown men and women sweating after a long day of work.

The sun is setting. You've seldom if ever seen something as beautiful as the sun setting behind the glazed mountains, across the lake and into the snow that obliterates a winter that seems so far from here, not ready to catch up to their summer.

Too bad, you're already here.

You see a girl. She's drenched in what you believe to be lake water. She holds a tiny lizard and runs behind a boy who screams in fear. She laughs, a gaping hole watching the world from behind her teeth. You feel a small smile crawling across your face.

It only takes the mildest moving of your wrist-- the smallest flicker of your cane-- and a gentle cool gust of wind blows close to the girl. She yelps in surprise, dropping the lizard. The boy gets away as she wraps her tiny arms around her, and walks somewhere else, sulking. You assume she goes home.

"You're welcome..." you say into the thin air. The boy doesn't see you, you know. You wonder why you even bother speaking at all, but you worry that silence might swallow you whole should you ever keep your mouth shut. You turn around and jump onto the rooftops.

You feel

~~unseen forgotten replaceable~~

_free._

The sun dips behind the snow. 

_Sooner or later, the cold takes us all._

 

 

 

Its the middle of the night. You're still exploring Arendelle. Its a nice kingdom, you think. You're heading over to the largest house in the city-- it looks majestic. The doors are far larger than you would expect any door to be, and you quietly wonder if there is a really fat person that must go through there.

There are windows everywhere, and you even see some of them colored, but in a way that still lets you peek inside. Its as if the glass is see-through, but at the same time you don't know how it manages to make everything inside look a different color. Could it be that you are looking through think rubies and sapphires?

The roof is slanted. This is one of the tallest places in town, so you can see everything from your privileged position. Its only been a couple of hours since the sun set, but you know day will come soon: that's just the way summer works.

 

 _Summer,_ you sigh. You don't like summer. You have a feeling that you never have.

But you do miss the  _option_ of not liking it.

It feels as if now you are unequivocally destined to dislike summer.

You test the word to your lips.

"Summer."

"Yeah, but I think Winter will be here soon. Or well, I hope so." For a moment you think it was a bird that spoke, the voice was so high-pitched.

Then you realized how ridiculous the notion of a talking bird with opinions on the weather was.

Then it dawned on you that whatever it was,  _it was speaking to you_.

It has to be a mistake.

"Why are you sitting on the roof? In the middle of the night?"

Okay, yeah, someone is speaking to you.

You turn so fast you nearly lose your balance. The window behind you had escaped your notice, but its existence, and that of its inhabitant are now loud and clear into your range of perception.

"You can see me?" you've spoken these words so many times, they feel like snowflakes coming out of your lips and losing themselves into a sea of silence and snow and nothingness.

They always coalesce with the snow on the ground and nobody ever notices a few flakes more.

But its summer and there is no snow, and these snowflakes are a curiosity.

"Can  _you_ see me?" Its a little girl with eyes wider than the sky. She's mocking, you can tell. Desperation claws at your voice.

"No, but you can  _see_ me? Now? What do you see?" Yo ask, and see the little girl tense. You've been too abrupt. Don't scare her away.

"Uhm, I see a boy sitting on the roof?" she explains, "didn't the guards grab you?"

You are so elated by this discovery that you can't cur your enthusiasm. Years and years of craving attention, and now you've got it.

It's time to show off.

"They couldn't." You grin. She doesn't even get a chance to question, and extend your palm in front of her, supine. Slowly, you gather droplets of water from everywhere around you, and freeze them into snowflakes and gather them into your hand until, sitting there, staring at the little girl with the starlight eyes, sits a little bear --the most basic shape of it, at least.

She gasps. For a moment, you wonder if she's going to scream. She could, of course, but if help came, nobody would see you, so its just as well. If she screams, the will only be embarrassing herself.

But her face is not of fear. Its wonder. She looks at you, surprised, but not impressed. Its almost as if she recognizes what you just did.

Before you ask, she exclaims gleefully.

"You're just like Elsa!"

The usually constant wind stops fluttering in your ear, and you feel as if a stone bounced into your stomach.

"You know someone like me?" You demand of the girl. The urgency is lost on her, for she smiles and nods, excited. She twirls around  and walks away from the window and you want to follow her but she's just a girl and you can't get your hopes up because she might be wrong but she can see you how can she see you?

"Are you coming?" She asks, spinning into her toes, like a dancer. She loses balance but catches herself, looking over her shoulder to make sure you didn't see her. You come in through the window and make no effort to dispel her doubts.

You walk behind her and she rants gleefully and generously about this 'Elsa'. She explains that this is her home, the _"palace"_ whatever that may mean. She goes on to formally inform you that she had been sliding on her socks across the hallway (she can't do that during the day, or  _the queen_ -whatever that is- will scold her). "Elsa stayed in the room because she's so _boooring."_ Her tone is tinted with mischief, and she stops suddenly, as if she's forgotten something. She looks at you with all humor vanished from her face.

"What's your name?" she asks. You raise an eyebrow and realize that she may _see_ you, but that doesn't mean she _recognizes_ you.

"Uhm," you reply rather dumbly. Its been so long since you've been spoken to

_longer than you can remember_

that you almost forgot what it feels like to be an active part of a dialogue.

"Jack." You say.

Wow.

Its been so long since you've said your name out loud, it tastes

_tastes?_

weird in your tongue.

The girl smiles at you, wide as ever. She has enormous green eyes and long red hair in two braids falling on either shoulder. "I'm Anna." She says.

"Pleasure to meet you," you reply, because it is. Its such a pleasure to _meet_ someone, to  _speak_ to someone for the first time in forever, and she wants to introduce you to someone else, but you don't know who that Elsa person is, or whether she will be able to see you or not and suddenly you're very very nervous and the " _palace"_ walls don't feel large enough to contain you anymore and its very upsetting and

"Come on!" She yelps and grabs you by the wrist. You can't remember when was the last time someone grabbed you by the wrist

_her hair is brown and her mouth is missing a couple of teeth and she's so short but she looks at you with such reverence and she closes her little hand around your fingers because she's scared and she knows that you'll protect her but what if you can't what if you fail and_

Anna pulls you and stops in front of a door. She's about to knock when--

" _Princess Anna!_ " Somebody hisses. A woman. Is this Elsa?

Anna looks alarmed, but not scared. The woman comes closer and she looks at you, as if wondering where to hide you, and quick. She doesn't know. You smile and press your finger against your lips as to keep her quiet. She looks confused. The woman reaches her --only her.

"You know what your parents have said about staying past your bedtime!" The woman scolds. Anna stares at you, wondering why the woman doesn't question you. "I shall inform Her Majesty of this."

This catches her attention. "No! Don't tell her!" She begs, and for now her eyes leave you and focus on pleading for mercy at the woman. With those eyes, you're not surprise she succeeds. The woman's shoulders slouch and she sighs.

"Very well, we'll let it go," she says affectionately, " _this time."_

She smiles. The woman turns her back on Anna clearly expecting her to follow. Anna looks at you for half a second, then at the receding woman, and whispers.

"Meet me tomorrow in the same place, okay?"

You're so curious and nervous that you barely manage to nod.

Anna falls in line behind the woman and disappears through the door at the end of the hall, giving you one final, sobering look.

_Tomorrow._


	3. Elsa: No, I Don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up for a POV change!

You hear shuffling at the other side of the door.

Anna's sad attempt at whispering slides under the door and floats around you.

You cannot distinguish the words she's saying, but she sounds excited. You think for a moment about opening the door, but before you do, you hear Miss Agnes's heavy, familiar footsteps approaching your room with its characteristic sound: she drags her left foot and steps heavy with the right one.

_Shh-thum, shh-thum._

_"Princess Anna!"_ she scolds. You laugh a little under your breath and hear the door open. Miss Agnes shuffles in the dark and you hear Anna plop softly in the feathered bed. "I do not want to find you playing in the halls again, Princess." She whispers, tired. "Behave a little more like your sister, if you please."

Anna huffs. You hear her. Anna loves you, but it must get old, hearing that you have to be like somebody else.

_Shh-thum, shh-thum, shh-thum._

The door closes softly. You hear Anna's excited breathing and can almost see her through your closed lids, shuffling off her bed and walking to yours.

"Elsa?" she whispers close to your face. You pretend not to hear. "Eeeeelsaaaaaa."

"Elsa, I've got a _secret."_ You know that tone. Its not a good tone.

You bury yourself in your covers, hoping that she'll get the message, but she doesn't.

"Elsaaa!" she hisses. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

You groan. "Anna," you close your eyes again. "Go back to sleep."

She tumbles on your bed and lays on top of your covers.

"I can't," she says, "the sky's awake. So  _I'm_ awake. So we have to play." She speaks as if there is no room for mistake in her words. You push her off the bed.

"Go play by yourself." you say, thinking she'll go back to sleep, but of course she doesn't. You feel her climb into your bed again, this time buzzing with excitement.

"But- but- but- secret!" She wines. Then as an afterthought, you feel her climb into your bed again, this time buzzing with excitement

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

* * *

 

 

You should have said no.

You know that now.

You're lying in your bed in your new empty room, and you know you should have said no.

_'No Anna, its late, we can't build a snowman'._

But it makes-

_-made-_

her so happy that you just couldn't resist.

You love Anna so much and now you lost her you lost her you lost her.

And she doesn't even know-

she doesn't know how much you love her or how much you want to spend time with her because she's your best friend and it was always the two of you because she's Anna and you're Elsa and it doesn't matter what happens because she always knew about you when no one did and it made you so happy to see her smile like that but

but she wasn't smiling.

When you struck her, she wasn't smiling.

When she fell against the snow and her body was freezing, she wasn't smiling.

When the King and Queen

(they weren't Mom and Dad or Mother and Father then they were the King and Queen losing their daughter and they were so afraid to lose her and you saw their eyes and you weren't their daughter you were just the monster that hurt their precious baby and it was all your fault and you could see it in the King's eyes and in the Queen's tears and it was all you you _you)_

You hug your knees to your body. The guards have already moved you to a new room. It hasn't even been a day.

Your room now has books and a desk and notebooks and quills and parchments and laws. It has no life. 

This isn't the room for a girl, you know.

This is the room for a Future Queen.

Because your parents may trust you with the Kingdom, but they do not trust you with their daughter.

Because you're a monster.

You lay on your side and hug yourself. You're not warm, you've never been, but now you feel empty.

It feels as if you're made of glass and there's nothing inside of you except your secrets. This is your secret. No one must now.

 _Conceal, don't feel,_  the King said.

Don't feel don't feel don't feel don't feel Anna's cold body when you hugged her and you thought she was dead and when your mother looked at you afraid of you because a mother afraid of her monster child because you are cursed cursed cursed and there's nothing you can do but conceal don't feel don't feel don't feel Elsa you're alone alone alone and no one knows because they can't because the gates are closed and Anna is away and you can't reach her but she doesn't know and she can never know and its so hard because the doors are closed and you can never open them because

"Elsa!" Her voice shatters you. Your glass skin cracks but you don't let it break because you can't because you're Anna's shield. "Do you want to build a snowman?" She asks.

Suddenly its there

the night the snow the fear the pain the cold the cold the cold and Anna's on the ground and you can't can't can't help her and you can't breathe because she's there and she's dying and you can't and Anna oh Anna your little sister you were supposed to protect her but you can't _you can't you can't_

 _"_ Go away!" You yell into your pillow because the voice doesn't come from you it comes from a new Elsa a stronger Elsa who's not cursed and knows how to protect Anna by keeping her away and saving her because this Elsa is not you she's not a monster she's strong stronger than you and the curse its jamming ice into your throat and you can't speak anymore because everything you want to say turns into snow and falls at your feet and you hold your head and your fingers thread through your hair and you pull but the pain isn't really yours because you're Elsa but not Elsa

You feel the tears slide down your face. You don't open your eyes, but you know that the room is frozen.

Its a fortress and you're alone and you will always be.

Always safe, always hiding.

You don't know when you fall asleep, but without willing it, your lips can only form a single phrase.

_Don't feel don't feel don't feel don't feel_

And maybe someday you won't.

 


	4. Elsa: Pass The Night/Jack: Speak to Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You don't know who he is, but you want him away from you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its taken me a little time to update. School's a mess ATM.

_Elsa_

 

You wake up with still fresh tears in your eyes. You've been crying in your sleep.

And why wouldn't you be?

You detest the very skin you are forced to inhabit. You are cursed cursed  _cursed_.

You peek to your window from your bed. Without realizing, you've made yourself small -s _o small_ \- as if even in your dreams you were trying to be less and less and disappear, but of course it doesn't work. You're still tiny, cursed, wicked Elsa. 

You're the princess of a kingdom that deserves something better than a monster to lead them and you're so  _so_ sorry they're stuck with you that you want to apologize to them but you know that it would be better if you were gone gone  _gone_ and she'd be safe and that's all you want you want your little sister safe you don't care that she's a princess or anything she's just your best friend and you hurt her you hurt her  _you hurt her_

You hear cracks around the room. You know its you. Its always you.

You don't have to look around to know that the window is no longer transparent, but almost opaque with the thick layer of ice that is now covering it, and that the floor is covered in frost and flakes that are each different from one another but none of them are dangerous like you. You squeeze your eyes shut as another tear falls from your eye and rolls into the bedspread, and it seems ironic that you can freeze everything in this room except your tears.

The light has vanished from the room. You don't even have the moon to comfort you, even though you always loved it so much. You felt so close to her --to the moon-- you know its silly to think of the moon as a girl, but you always have: the moon is like a mother

_a mother who doesn't fear you_

that watches over you, who's alone as you are, but never feels lonely because the stars give her solace and company, but she has no equal.

But even  _she_ has deserted you. You are alone without your best friend and without your parents because they are now the King and Queen of Arendelle, and you are nothing but the Princess of Arendelle, while Anna is and forever will be their sweet precious sun. They will orbit around her and draw from her warmth, but you never can again, for like the moon, you will flee from her presence now and forever and only live on borrowed light, resting always in solitude.

Another tear falls, and this time you can't bite back the sob. The dam inside you breaks and you shake with your sobs until your eyes are dry and you've fallen asleep in a pit of pain amidst the iced walls of your lonely bedroom.

 

* * *

_Jack_

 

You haven't been this nervous in ages.

Like wow, you don't think you've  _ever_ been this nervous.

Well yeah, a couple of times, when you'd thought one kid or another could see you, but its nothing like this time.

This time, you  _actually held a conversation_ with someone.

That girl  _saw_ you.

She said she knew  _someone_ like you.

You can barely contain your jitters, and in your nervousness, you're making it snow a bit where you're standing.

Oops.

You're waiting by the window where you met her yesterday. You'd figured she'd come a little sooner, but that doesn't seem to have been the case.

So you wait.

And you wait.

And you wait.

You wait until you hear soft footsteps treading on a soft trail, which you can only guess is the carpet. 

You can't wait any longer. You gingerly open the window, trying to make it seem like it was the wind (luckily, they'd left it unfastened) and then you stick your head through. You see a wisp of red hair bouncing down the hallway, and you know Anna's coming.

The snow you've accidentally summoned starts spinning in a little circle, creating a tiny little snowstorm. Its pretty neat, you think, you'd like to show Anna.

She's coming this way, you see. Its strange, though. She seems... different. She  _looks_ the same, but at the same time its like she's.. missing something?

You don't give the thought a moment, because she's headed in your direction, and she's going to introduce you to Elsa. After all, she promised.

She's coming closer and you're waiting outside of the window no longer peeking in, because it doesn't seem right to come in uninvited, right? Your bare feet are tapping against the ceramic tiles of the roof and you're electrified with excitement.

Anna walks up to you. You smile uneasily, because her look is blank, and please let you not recognize it, oh  _please_ let you be wrong

"Hey," you say, but you're not wrong.

Anna closes the window and walks away.

There is an avalanche inside of you.

She didn't see you.

No no  _no no no_

She saw you  _yesterday_.

She told you to come back and meet Elsa.

You know this happened, you know it did!

No no no  _no no no please no_ you don't want to be alone again please  _please no_

You can't give up, you  _can't._

You begin treading across the roof, trying to find another open window. 

You have tried about fifteen you think, and you can't believe it because how could she not see you anymore? it can't be like this, you can't lose ho--

Hello.

Why is this window frozen?

You press your hand to the glass and feel the cold of it seep into your skin, regaining its rightful place among your body. 

The ice in the window is gone. The window is unlocked. Only the sheets of frost had kept it in place.

The window swings open and you pop your head in. Across the room, there's a bed, a desk, and some bookshelves. You can hardly believe anybody lives in such an inhospitable place, but at least its coz--

Why are those walls frosted?

Why is  _everything_ in this room frozen?

You step forward --or at least intend to, but you jump back as an ice spike grows from the floor.

"What the--?" you exclaim.

"Who are you? Go away!"

That's when you see the tiny blonde girl hiding behind her bed with a look of pure terror in her eyes.

She  _sees_ you.

What's more important, her frightened gaze isn't trained on you. It has been fixed into the ice-spike on the ground, and being shifted between it and her left hand.

She's not scared of _you_ , you realize

She's scared of _herself._

 _"Elsa."_ You breathe, and you don't know how you know it but you're sure it is. Her wide blue eyes are in the verge of tears.

You don't know how you feel.


	5. Jack: Be Careful

"Elsa?" You ask hesitantly. The little blonde girl cowers away from you, behind her bed, with her tiny little arm struck out in defense against you. 

You realize that she holds her own hand as if she's scared of it; like its a weapon of destruction that she cannot control.

_And she might be right._

"H-how do you know my name?" She asks. Her voice quivers, scared, and just now it strikes you how  _young_ she is. She can't be more than seven years old. You put your staff on the ground and kneel on the floor, trying to seem as least threatening as you possibly can. You mean, you don't know  _how_ you'd look threatening in the first place. You're a kid yourself. But well, you guess to someone her size, someone like you might be terrifying.

And you  _did_ just float through her window.

You hear a crack and realize that the ice is thickening again in the window. You speak in the softest voice you can not to scare her,

"Hi," you say. Wow that feels nice. You haven't said `hi' to someone in so long, you actually need to bite your tongue to keep from saying it again because it sounds so damn nice.

No time for that, Jack, _focus_.

"My name is Jack," you say. "I met your sister Anna yesterday... I know this might seem weird, but not everybody can see me." Nervousness gets the better of you and you begin rambling. "I don't know how she was able to see me, but she told me she knew someone like me, and she said your name, okay? We said we'd meet again today and she'd introduce me, but she can't see me anymore and I don't know what happened."

"Someone... like... you?" she asks, and you realize she must be so incredibly confused right now.

"Yeah," you say and slowly hold your palm facing upwards in front of you. You don't even have to concentrate: a little icestorm appeared over your palm, and it gently snows upon your open hand. You feel almost dumb, showing this party trick to the girl who froze her entire room, but it will do for now. There's a shift behind the bed and Elsa steps into the poor light that the window provides.

_Oh, wow._

You knew she was a kid, but you didn't expect this.

Like yeah, okay, she's a kid, but she's  _tiny_.

She can't reach over your waist. She's got pale blonde hair (though it still has more color than yours) and really white skin. What strikes you the most are her huge blue eyes, rimmed with red from crying.

She's so terrified.  _  
_

"How-" she starts, and you see her try to gain composure in a way you've never seen someone her age do. "How are you doing that?" she asks, and her voice is raw. It tightens in your chest.

"I was born this way." You say. She looks at her own hands and then at you, as if she's trying to figure out how you resemble each other. Instead of being satisfied, she hugs herself, but doesn't step back into the darkness.

"I hurt her." She says curtly. It takes you a moment to understand that she means Anna. "I struck her by accident," her voce is hoarse and tired, but she rambles on, "I didn't want to, we were just playing but I  _slipped_ and I couldn't let her fall and I --" She breaks down into tears and can't continue.

"Hey, _hey,"_ you intone, and your own soothing voice echoes in your memories. ( _Jack don't go be careful no don't go back home I don't wanna fall please help me Jack I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared)_ You push these back. "You didn't mean to hurt her, right?"

She hangs her head, and her shoulders shake with sobs.

"She's my best friend, and now I  _lost_ her."

"You haven't lost her, Elsa." You soothe. You don't know where this kindness is coming from, but the wind whispers you to be gentle, and it seems to be something you can do, though you have no idea where you learned it. "She's alright, I just saw her--"

"But she doesn't remember I have powers," tears bloom in her eyes. Ice inside you cracks at the sight, but it doesn't break. You're stronger than that. "The trolls erased her memories to save her. She's my best friend and I can't ever get close to her and my parents hate me and everyone's scared of me and I'm so alone and I  _can't--"_

You take a single step closer. She tries to bite back tears, but doesn't move. You gently lay your hands on her shoulders. 

 _She's so tiny and this weight is too much for her_.

"But she's alright," you try to cheer her, "she's alright, and that's what's important, even if she doesn't remember your--"

_That's why she can no longer see you._

The thought runs through you like lightning. Its quickly replaced by the cold of disappointment. 

"It's alright, Elsa, I'm here, okay?" You say ever-so-gently. "I'm not going to leave you, okay?

Instead of saying anything, Elsa pulls your jacket and weeps into it. 

Without meaning to, you envelop her in an embrace that should be warm, but since its the two of you, it feels like nothing more than the bite of snow.


	6. Jack: Crystal Songs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos y'all! And special thanks to both of you who took the time to comment. Its silly, but it makes me really happy.

Elsa is the strangest kid you have ever met and it has nothing to do with her powers.

Every step she takes is careful and calculated. Every move she makes is like that of a puppet being pulled by a string. It's strange: you can see a want of freedom escape her eyes in a little twinkle of light whenever she lets go, but its quickly overcome by a shadow that passes over her face and sobers her up in a way you've only seen adults do.

Its been some time: you don't know how long, because time means nothing to you, really, but you know its been some time because she's grown - _I'm thirteen_ she tells you and its almost a secret how she whispers it but everything that she says is a secret and her voice is a cage and her mouth is a vault where she keeps them all safe inside of her always always always- and you have yet to meet Anna again.

She never has been able to see you again, ever since the accident - _my fault my fault its my fault_ Elsa cries and hugs herself- and it stole into you, not like a bite of cold, but as a lack of  _feeling_ , as if there's something missing in you

_(Jack let's play come on lets go to the lake it'll be fun please please please don't tell mom let's go let's go let's go)_

and the feeling doesn't fade into white, like everything else in your mind. It feels as if a dark spot has stolen into your chest and nested in your heart and its just  _nothingness_.

This is not to say, of course, that you do not value Elsa.

To you, Elsa is like the Crystal Songs you created together.

You called them that, because they had no other name, and this one seemed to fit.

It was simple, really. More than once had you walked in on Elsa speaking to one of  the servants or anyone at all, and even though they couldn't see you, it was almost as if they could sense you, and that feeling was too eerie for your taste, so you created a way to announce your arrival.

Simply put, you created tiny ice figurines that would hang outside her window --it took you only a moment to do them-- and with time you learned how to make different shapes and sizes, and realized that, when the wind blew, soft, gentle melodies would ring. If you could come in, she'd send a melody back.

The first time Elsa heard this and saw the hardened, snow-flaked shaped icicles she smiled and her eyes sparkled, and without even deciding to, it became something that belonged to you and her.

And this is what she was like: unusual and delicate and special and gentle and sweet and a creator of beauty that disregards her own miracles.

Your acquaintanceship with Elsa has bloomed fantastically, and the cold storm inside of you has lessened into an early winter breeze that freezes the tip of children's noses as they catch snowflakes in their tongues. The most important thing that you have lived with her has been a small lopsided smile that escaped her lips one time that she was talking about Anna; she caught herself almost immediately, and the smile melted off into a look of guilt that held in no regard your assurances that it was not her fault.

Since she doesn't leave her room -almost at  _all_ \- it is up to you to visit her. Not to brag or anything, but you think it makes her happy. It definitely makes  _you_ happy --or as close to happy as you can be. It is entirely liberating to meet someone who can so thoroughly see you. You mean this very literally, but suspect that for her its more of a metaphorical idea. The heartbreaking thing is that if she could see herself as clean-cut as she sees you, she might not be so scared all the time. After all this time knowing her, you have learned one thing:

When Elsa looks at herself, she sees a monster. A curse. A mistake. Something  _too much_ and displeasing. She sees the end of Arendelle. The ice princess that will condemn them all. Elsa sees cold like the presence of looming death in a moonless night.

When you see Elsa, you see a kind-hearted girl who's scared out of her wits.

Which is why you dislike her parents so thoroughly.

You have met them only once, to be sure, and that has been enough.

It was no long ago (or maybe it was, you're not really sure). You came by through her open window (which makes you feel as if some synthetic warmth can almost slip into your fingers) and found her sitting down in her desk, studying.

Before you even had a chance to speak to her, the door to the room opened and you held your breath for a second before remembering that you're invisible.

"Elsa," a man spoke. From the paintings in the castle you realized it was her father. Her mother, a small, gentle-looking woman strikingly similar to Elsa stepped in behind him. There was something strange about them. 

You immediately saw Elsa sit up straight and turn to her parents. The relaxed (as much as Elsa allows herself to relax) pose she had acquired solidifies itself into an icy statue of respect and firmness. She mirrors her parents. Just by changing her posture she seems older and more worn down, but with an alert expression.

You felt your heart twist.

You notice that the look in Elsa's face is one of obedience and submission and fear. In her mother's eyes, so similar to her daughters, you read pain, sadness, and above else, a raw, heart-wrenching amount of love in the saddest form. This love was also in her father's eyes, but mingled with it you could see wariness. 

Elsa did not seem to detect this love, only their fear.

You wished she understood that they didn't fear  _her_.

They feared  _for_ her.

"Elsa," her father's voice cut through the icy room. He seemed pained. "You need to control your powers."

Elsa seemed dumbfounded for a second, until suddenly a chord in her mind snapped and she looked around her room nervously.

 _Oh,_ you realized.

The room was entirely covered with a thin layer of snow.

The King hesitated and kneeled over in front of Elsa. From his pocket, he pulled out a pair of gloves.

He reached for her hands so gently --you could not imagine those enormous hands moving so sensitively and kindly-- and she flinched but kept her hands in place. The King gently put the gloves on her and looked into her eyes with a pleading gaze.

"Remember," he whispered, but you heard. "Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show."

The cracks in your heart hardened. The ice in your skin burned with  _rage_.

 _"What?"_ you spat. Elsa's head snapped in your direction, bewildered with fear. She hadn't noticed your arrival until now.

Her parents, of course, couldn't see you

_In their minds she had a curse and only a curse there could be no such person as you whose entire existence was that curse curse curse that she must conceal and hide and shame shame shame_

so her bewilderment only startled them. Your rage conjured the clouds in the sky outside and the winds blew in through the open windows and the room  _oh the room_ the room was freezing and they couldn't stand it because they weren't like you and her they didn't understand they didn't understand Elsa and it hurt it hurt it  _hurt._

"Dear, calm down!" her mother called to her. The fear in her voice sent Elsa over the edge.

The floor around her feet became ice and it climbed the walls and surrounded her and them and all and the snow hardened and it was just layers of dead ice everywhere and it was unforgiving and cold and painful and it was not made of crystal songs there were no songs there was just fear and 

"I c-c-can't," she sobbed. With every ripping sob came a new wave of hail. "I can't control it!" And tears spilled from her eyes 

_oh no what did you do Jack you made her cry no  no no no no_

Her parents fled the room, but you stayed with Elsa until she calmed down and the sobs melted into soft tremors that coursed through her and the only thing you could hear was her tiny voice whispering

"I'm cursed I'm _cursedI'mcursedI'mcursed"_ and no matter how much you tried to speak to her she wouldn't listen and she wouldn't understand.

So you never could tell her that it was your fault.

* * *

 

 

 

She's sitting in her room. It's been some years since that incident. She's wearing black and she looks so  _broken_ like a shard of glass on the floor reflecting only pieces of her face that's crumpled in on itself because she's in so much  _pain_.

Her hair contrasts with her black dress and her blue eyes are rimmed with red - _like the day you met her_ \- and she hugs herself.

She does not reply to your Song, but you come in anyways because she's crushing your soul _~~if you have~~_ ~~one.~~

"What's wrong? Why are you wearing that?" you ask. She doesn't move. Her shoulders are slumped and her back is arched forwards and this is a sadness that you have never seen before in her. Its not fear that conquers her this time.

It is the sadness of defeat.

You step forward. Your bare foot crushes a broken mirror but it doesn't cut  ~~ _because you're not real_.~~

"Elsa," you call and place your hands on her shoulders. For the first time, she looks up at you, and her eyes are empty  _  
_

 _like the space Anna left when she forgot you its empty empty empty_.

Her voice is in shards and her breath comes in like snowflakes, shattered and different and unequal.

"They're dead." 

You don't ask. You don't need to. You know who she's talking about. You can't speak. Her gloved hands slide over your shoulders and clasp behind your back and she breaks down into sobs and you realize

this is the first time you've ever been hugged

and what's worse,

its probably  _the first time she's been hugged, too_.

The sheer solitude and devastation of that thought feels like a punch in the stomach. The air that leaves your lips is as if it travels across the room and back into your ears with an answer.

"You need to go to Anna." You whisper.

She pulls back from you. Her tears fall freely but nothing else in her face moves. 

Her voice comes without soul. "I can't."

"Yes you can," you say as you gently lay your hand on her shoulder. "Elsa, Anna understands you. She's heartbroken too, okay? She needs you and you need her."

"You don't understand." She sobs. "You just  _don't_." Her voice raises. Pain is tearing her apart and she pulls it out of her mouth like knives to cut you too. "You don't have  _anyone_ to protect, Jack! You're  _alone!_ You have no idea what its like to lose--" she breaks down again.

The knives carve into your heart. She's hit you where it hurts. You want to turn around and leave, you do, but

"You're such a bloody  _coward_." You spit at her. "You  _hid_. You couldn't handle being special so you  _hid_ in your room like a scared kid! Every time something bad happens you  _run,_ Elsa! Well guess what? There's no more running now!" You're seething.

You have never seen such a perfect storm of pain and hate and devastation and sadness and void as you now watch in Elsa's eyes.

"Look who's talking!" She cries, "its always about how  _you_ can't be seen and poor little Jack! You don't know what you're here for but you're too much of a coward to find out."

For the first time in either of your lives, neither one of you is made of ice. You are both made out of poison. You have become snakes and have bit each other into agony. Elsa feels the same. You can see it in her eyes.

She holds your gaze for a full minute before you turn away and climb the window ledge, half expecting her to apologize.

She doesn't.

You turn to look at her one more time to see if you can read a pleading gaze.

You can't.

For a moment, you want to rip out the Crystal Melody that you last made for her. It's a tiny snowman with a replica of your staff.

But you don't.

You leave Elsa behind feeling lonelier and more wretched than you have ever before in your life.

 


	7. Jack: Run In Circles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been so long
> 
>  
> 
> im a dork :O

Corona is beautiful.

You came over when it was spring, bringing a little northern chill with you, but not enough for snow.

At this moment, you cannot see --you cannot  _think_  --about snow, because snow is Elsa, and your  ~~heart~~ chest aches to think about the terms in which you parted. Its been weeks (by your estimation) and you have yet to go back to Arendelle.

You strike the thought from your mind and bring gentle breezes to chill the afternoon a little. People seem to be buzzing with excitement, and everybody seems to be carrying some sort of paper lamp around. You eavesdrop on an older woman speaking to a child.

"This is the first year that the lanterns will be released since the return of the princess," she tells a small, redheaded child  ~~who looks like Anna~~. "Nobody thought the princess would come back, my darling, so now the lamps are like the light to bring the lost people home. Its a beautiful thought, don't you think?" The old woman asks the red-headed girl. She seems distracted by something or another, and races away from her grandmother. You decide to go around the kingdom. Maybe you shouldn't make it snow here, but it seems like a nice place to hang around for a little while.

You're watching the majestic walls, and the suns and the tents and the colors and the music, and you realize that its full of life and spring, while all you will ever bring is winter and sadness.

You push the thought out of your head as you come across a large mosaic-image.

If you could, you know that you would feel your blood run cold.

You know you would hear your heartbeat in your ears, like Elsa explained happened when you were so shocked

( _you'd walked into her room before the Crystal Songs and you'd scared her and she said she could hear her heart in her ears because you'd scared her so bad but you couldn't understand what she meant but now you think you might)_

and turn on your heel and fly to the gigantic castle in the middle of the town.

You cannot believe your eyes.

* * *

 

You've frozen just a little spot in the lake that surrounds Corona, just enough to stand. 

You hear the crowd before you can actually see the prince and princess approaching the pier, but you're still too far, so you wait in your little frozen spot.

( _you wanna see but you don't wanna see because it can't be she can't be this hurts why)_

Soon enough, the prince and princess have sailed on a small boat, amongst thousands of people, all of them in awe, as the prince gives one of the paper lamps to the princess, and the fire illuminates her face.

Something cold clenches in your belly.

She looks so much like Elsa that it hurts.

Yes, her hair is short and brown and her eyes are different and her smile is full and confident and her eyes are not drowning in fear and her teeth are shown proudly and the Prince looks at her like she's the most delicate yet strong and beautiful creature on the face of the earth. He looks at her like she's a snowflake and he's  _smitten_ by the beauty and grace and perfection of her.

And you can only think about how much she looks like Elsa.

You know there's some Anna there, too, but it doesn't matter, because you close your eyes and all you see is Elsa, but she cannot smile like this princess, and its like ice is spreading inside of you, like the white was spreading on the tree when you first woke.

Thousands upon thousands of lamps are released into the sky and the moon watches them rise and float and guide the souls back home.

But you cannot go back to Elsa.

You don't know how, but for a moment, it seems as if the moon is mourning for you.

And you feel the solitude crawling into you through your feet.

You leave Corona this night.

* * *

You spend a season in the Highlands.

The red of the Royals' hair makes you think fondly of Anna.

Nobody can see you. 

You miss Elsa and Anna with every snowflake you create.

You make winter a gentle thing and always look after the princess. Her name is Merida, you learn, but she cannot see you. She is nothing like the people you know.

Before the snow melts that summer, you have left the highlands and head north.

* * *

There is a huge, cat-like creature staring you down.

If you could die, you would probably be petrified right about now.

As it is, you're just... confused.

Its a large creature. He looks like a salamander, but huge and black. It retracts its teeth and doesn't seem to think of you as a threat. He watches you closely, until a boy who seems to be his master calls him to his side.

You learn that these are Dragons, and this one is named Toothless.

He does not fill the void, and he cannot communicate with you, but Toothless gives you some comfort and seems to enjoy your small snowstorms. He dives into piles of snow and jumps out at his master. It makes you laugh, but strongly reminds you of the friends you've lost.

You meet more Dragons and head even more north. Waiting. Hiding.

You know you're an idiot.

It doesn't matter how far you run, or how far North, or how much you try,

you can never outrun Elsa's crying face.

Not even after three years.

It is only when you feel something deeply wrong coming from the south that you decide to leave Berk for the snow-covered mountains that are close to -you feel a pang and a thrill, both at the same time- Arendelle.

 

You look at the moon. Its crescent shaped tonight, and it almost seems as if one of the tips is pointing at Arendelle.

You feel like your heart is in your hand as you return, after these years, over to the only place that has given you joy.

You are not prepared for what you will find.

 

 


	8. Jack: It Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow look what the cat dragged in? 
> 
> hello lovelies.
> 
> I'm making a two-chapter update because this one is too short and i don't wanna cram in two ideas in the same document.

This cannot be Arendelle.

This  _cannot_ be Arendelle.

Its not even about the snow. Its everywhere and you cannot see two feet in front of you and everything is drowning in white white white but it wasn't you who did this because you weren't here. There is snow everywhere and its winter but its not natural. 

Its not natural but its breathtakingly beautiful.

Wherever you go, you play. Everything you do is playful and funny and happy. If you had to describe it to a little boy ( _to anyone if you could talk to them_ the voice in your head tells you) you'd explain that its the same as a nursery rhyme: its just simple and usual and easy and  _there_. _  
_

This winter is not dead, but it is heartbreaking.

You wonder how millions upon millions of snowflakes together can manage to look so thoroughly lonely.

But this is not why its not Arendelle.

Its not Arendelle because everyone looks scared and sad and frightened. They look worse that when Elsa's - _Elsa Elsa Elsa_  the name beats inside of you- parents died. They were sad and scared but now they're broken and frightened and how can they be when they have two beacons of light to look upon?

For the first time since you've awoken you feel a chill and everything inside you turn to ice because the thoughts in your head are so terrible they have frozen you up.

But then you see it.

You see a speck of orange and you recognize her.

 _Anna_.

She's grown more than you could have expected. But then, you suppose time is really not much to you as it is to them.

Anna sits upon a horse, speaking to the inhabitants of Arendelle, and you hear just as carefully to what she has to say:

"I will find my sister. Prince Hans is in charge until my return!" She speaks boldly and with a courage you're pretty sure she doesn't feel, and her face is not as bright as you remember it to be, and the horrible thought that comes into your mind is that she lost that glow to age.

But her words cling to your head. 

 _Her sister_.

Elsa, if nothing else, is alive.

It takes you a moment to process this, your mind is wandering, and you're only back on your mind when you feel a man holding his daughter's hand pass by you and looking at the floor, muttering an 'excuse me' under his shivering breath. 

You do not notice that there is no one else near you.

Anna is gone and you run right after her.

* * *

 

You can't believe you lost her.

You lost lost  _lost_ her.

This was so important but she dissapeared into the snow but snow is supposed to be your  _thing_ and how can it be your  _thing_ if you lose Anna and you lose Elsa and they're both gone gone  _gone_ again and you don't want them to be gone and--

There is an overwhelming feeling in your chest. Its pulling you upwards like there's a bubble of air inside of you and you need to float right after it of its going to tear your chest from your body. So you rise rise  _rise_ with this bubble until you're so far above the ground and the snow and the wind that you can see clearly everything below you and everything around you  and you can see it--

You see a castle like the one where you met Elsa and Anna, but its so much more  _beautiful_.

You have never before been struck so speechless by an idea as abstract as beauty. You guess you are abstract enough, thank you very much, to need to train your eyes upon something that you can't enjoy, but this castle-- this castle is like a dream.

The bubble inside of you is crying and prying and its screaming at you and pulling at your insides to go in that direction, and you know you should find Anna, you  _know_ it and you  _want_ to, but this feeling its-- its overtaking you like nothing ever has. Its like the wind is born inside of you and its blowing towards the castle, like its the centre of your world and everything besides it is nothing to you. Its like the Moon herself is calling you and her voice is gentle and crooning and sweet and you cannot disappoint her

So what else can you do but hurry away to it?

* * *

 


	9. Elsa: You Ran

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a two chapter update, just so you know, so you might want to read chapter 8 before this one, though in this case it has no effect because POVs

They saw _they saw they saw they saw_

No no no  _no  no no no no no_ _  
_

Anna she looked so hurt she was so hurt _why Anna please don't look at me like that please please please I love you so much_

You didn't want to hurt her you wanted to keep her safe and all you ever did was for her and you hid and you shunned her and everything you ever did it was only for love because you love Anna so much.

You're running away and you can't feel the cold because the cold isn't really there because you're nothing but the Ice Queen and you freeze everything around you but your heart you can't freeze your heart because Anna is fire and she lives in your heart and she melts the ice and you can't freeze it and its only for her and its hurting her and you can't stand it.

You can feel tears burning your face while you're running and you know they're not really warm because nothing warm can ever come from you.

The lake under your feet is freezing because you're running away and you're trying not to think that you could have saved your parents from their fate if they had not feared you half so much.

So you run.

Because there's nothing to go back to and there's nothing to go towards. You have burned every bridge you ever made because your parents are dead and Anna is scared of you and Ja--

Your heart aches so much that you can barely finish that thought.

The only friend you ever made must hate you so much that he could never stand to see you again and after this-- after this he could never come back and see you as little Elsa again and there will never again be Crystal Melodies and snow figures and talks and laughter and joy and you will never again see anyone you love because you're a monster

You're a monster.

You're a  _monster,_ Elsa, and no one can ever tell you otherwise, and no one ever  _will_ , because now they know.

They  _know_ everything.

* * *

 

The mountain is lonely --so lonely-- and the only thing you see is heaps and heaps of snow and millions upon millions of snowflakes that are falling from the sky that's so dark that the stars can't bite through the emptiness. The moon, however,  _the Moon_ she's watching you and you can almost feel her smiling at you because you're alone and she's alone and she's alright and she's powerful and she's a Queen--

\--And so are you.

And suddenly your cape isn't so heavy and your gloves aren't restricting and Arendelle-- Arendelle's so  _small_.

Its so small and so far and it can't hurt you.

You feel almost a bubble of mad laughter explode from your lips, but your body is still disconnected from your mind and you cannot manage it yet.

But, you realize, your secret is out.

Its out and you're alone and you have nothing, but by having nothing you've got nothing to lose and you're--

Free.

You look at the mountain in front of you and your resolve thickens because you're Elsa and you're  _free_ and nothing is standing in your way anymore. Not now and not ever.

So you climb the mountain and the wind, it just whispers into your ear.

Its telling you to let it go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow yes i am that much of a dork that i would incorporate a clue to the song.
> 
> yes hello, it is i the dork


	10. Jack: Find Her By The Moon's Feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahahahahaha im a piece of trash and i take forever to update
> 
> im sorry :D im a jerk like that

You're following the Moon's trail.

Its not really there, and you kind of know it, but it  _is_.

You don't want to say that everything is the same because it really isn't. It's only that there's nothing different. And in that  _sameness_ there's something that's not really there but at the same time it's not  _not_ there.

Its.. it's like shadows, you think. You can find silhouettes darker than the shadows that surround them, like when the night is cold and empty and the Moon is gone and there is no light and everywhere there's just _black_ but you can still se the outline of the trees even though you are already in darkness.

No, that doesn't make sense to you.

But nothing really does anyways, so does it honestly matter?

You follow the trail you're sure the Moon is leading you on, as if it is a beckoning tune that's playing softly _-so softly_ \- that you can't actually hear, but it really is there, you swear.

You float, you fly, you're drifted, you don't know. The only thing that's clear is that the closer you get to the castle the more beautiful it becomes and the more _lonely_ it seems and the more  _sorrow_ it evokes.

But you can't feel sorrow, can you, Jack? No, you really couldn't.

Could you?

As you get closer you begin to drift upwards. You begin watching the windows and the crystals and the decorations and something chills you

- _not really Jack, nothing can chill you, you're Frost, remember?_

because you recognize it.

You've seen them so many times. You saw Elsa working day and night to create the right crystal for her melody and she would make these _beauties_ but they were always  _wrong wrong wrong_ she would cry, because they were not perfect, not for her. She was a  _princess_ , Jack, she couldn't  _be_ something other than  _perfect_ because that's what Arendelle needed.

And you heard those words over and over in your head and every time you watched her you could see it in her eyes.

You're sure it was there, but you never said anything. You never said anything because it would make things worse.

You think you've seen it before. This _little_  glint in the back of her eyes, a white spark of cold fire that  _burns cold_ and turns blood into ice and makes you  _stop_ and not move and feel pain _pain pain,_ and you don't know why but you think you know that feeling like you're drowning but there's no water and you can't swim and nobody else is drowning because they're standing in the shallow edge, but  _you're_ not and you can't understand why.

You´d seen the spark grow colder and bigger and freeze her insides and watch her  _stop_ what she was doing and the smile would fall from her face and her eyes would widen and you would read the  _fear_ and the  _terror_ and the words.

You could always read the words in Elsa's eyes.

 _Did I do something wrong?_ They always seemed to say.

Like every breath and every step and every moment she lived she was stealing from someone else.

You saw this and you wanted to tell her  _no, you didn't, you're perfect_ but you never could because it would just  _drown_ in you, as if the spark from behind her eyes was watching you and warning you that you'd be next and you know you should've told her but it was  _there_ and it was threatening you and you were so scared.

So you're floating upwards and you don't know what you will find and part of you is screaming to find Anna, but the  _Moon_ , she's calling you so you're going to her.

At this point it seems that the castle is a part of Her, and its Her dress, and She looks beautiful like She always does but this time,  _this time_  She's calling you almost with Her fingers under your chin, ever so sweetly and whispering through your skin to  _come to Her_ because She will make it all better and you  _know_  She will.

So you float until you're stepping on a balcony of ice with intricate designs of snowflakes underneath the crystals and you think you've never seen something so brethtaking and marvelous--

\--until the door opens.

You don't need to breathe, but it still goes out of you.

There is no  _air_ inside you for a moment and there is  _nothing_ around you even  _the Moon_ is gone and there is no glass underneath your feet and there is no night around you because you are _bedazzled_ because its as if the entire galaxy just unfolded in front of your eyes like it just bloomed from the center of the most beautiful flower you have ever seen. 

It takes you a moment but you see it.

You don't see it in her hair or her face or her shape or her skin.

You see it in the twinkle of fear in her eyes, in the apology that is always ready on her lips, on the hands that are always braced against herself as if she is always afraid.

"Elsa," the wind carries the word away and you're not sure if it ever got to her, but something tells you that it did.

And in her eyes, next to that ever-ready twinkle of fear you see a spark of recognition and for a second you  _swear_ you saw the curve of her lip  _ever-so-slightly_ upward like she's happy to see you and just at that moment everything that left you has now returned and you are  _full_ of everything.

Your hand twitches and it _aches_ to reach out to her so you let it and its just itching to touch the skin of her hands that you see for the first time she's not wearing gloves and suddenly  _everything_ rushes back to you, every memory of everytime she laughed and cried and sighed and every time she was happy and at peace it all just tumbles into your memory--

\--but so does all the fear she's always had, and the tears that are always born in her eyes but freeze before they reach her lips.

Your hand edges towards her and you see her left hand raise in front of her, as if she wants to protect herself and it _hurts_ because Elsa should never have to protect herself from  _you_.

"Jack," she breathes, and her breath is not enough to stain the air because its a tiny wisp but you hear it and its the sweetest sound you have ever heard because its _Elsa_ and she doesn't hate you.

And then her eyes widen and you see the spark of fear and pain overtake the light  and she steps back and she hides her left hand behind her back and you realize she's protecting _you_ from  _her_ and you step forward and your hand flies to reach her but its too late--

\--its too late.

The Moon makes the night emptier and darker, as if it mourns for you.

The heavy door falls closed, and all that's left of the glimmer of joy you just felt is the sad face of your pathetic reflection as you rest your forehead against the door and you call her name gently, hoping she will answer.

But morning comes and she doesn't.


	11. Elsa: He's Here

You're not breathing.

Your heart beats in your head. It whispers in your ear. Your thoughts are a mess. Two words. 

_He's here._

That's what your heart sounds like.

He's. Here.

He's. Here.

_He's. Here._

Jack found you.

Of all the people that could've chased you, of all the people that would want to find you,  _he_ did.

The Arendelle you left behind bears no love for you. They fear you. They must rejoice now, the Icy Queen is gone. The Snow Queen has left. Her reign if cold and ice and sadness and defeat is over.

Anna is spring. Anna is love. She'll lead them better. She will bring beautiful times along. Anna will thaw the ice you have left in your wake, and she will rise beauty and life from the ashen snow of your departure. You  _know_ she can.

But Jack.

_Jack Jack Jack Jack._

Your head pounds in time with the name. Your breath leaves your lips in the shape of an almost-but-not-quite-smile. The word is lodged in your throat, and its blocking the air. His name is choking you. It holds to the walls of your neck and it stops the air until you say it.  _Say it, Elsa, say it._

Say his name.

"Jack," You whisper. His eyes are wide. His face is the same. His lips are parted in surprise, and you can see the tug of a smile in the corner, but you know what smiles can hide. You see everything in him, and you are trapped into eternity for one second, just enough to see everything in him. Everything you remember as a child. For the first time since you last saw him, you feel fingers of warmth grow slowly from deep within your chest, reaching out to the rest of your body, your airways clear now that you have spoken his name.

Then you hear it.

_He'll hurt you. You'll hurt him._

Its almost a hum.

Its soft and low and almost unintelligible, but its there. It doesn't pound in your head.  _It gushes_. It floats in your blood and whispers in your ear, and then its gone. The moment it does you feel every bit of warmth leaving you once again, and for the first time in years you feel the true coldness that only comes after you've known warmth.

You look at your hand. Its reaching out to him. You want him --you  _need_ him-- to save you. You want like nothing ever before to feel the embrace of another creature, something you have not felt since the death of your parents. You want to reach into his arms to feel  _safe_. You want  _safety_.

 _Don't touch him_.

This time it is not a hum. Its a beat. It slams into your head. It punches you in the chest from the inside. It reverberates through your bones and under your skin and it leaves behind a dull remembrance of what it was.

You pull your 

_treacherous monstrous dangerous horrible terrible disgusting_

hand back.

You feel it ache to touch him, but you mustn't allow it. You step between him and your left hand. Your body is a shield. You will not hurt Jack. 

Not how you've hurt Anna.

The itching becomes a burn, and you feel your body  _begging_ to let you get close, to remember what its like to touch another without the isolation of your gloves. You want to touch his hand. Just to see what it feels like.

Do you remember what that was like? Touching a hand? Was it soft? was the skin as smooth as you remember? Was his skin cold? Anna's was warm, you remember that. You remember everything about Anna and that night. 

Jack reaches for you and you snap.

He cannot  _cannot cannot_ touch you.

He didn't see what you did in Arendelle, he  _didn't_. Maybe,  _just maybe_ if he doesn't know he won't hate you--

And suddenly you feel your heart shatter as if it were a snowglobe.

Your parents feared you.

Your kingdom loathes you.

Your sister cannot possibly love you.

But  _Jack--_

Jack can understand you, right?

 _No_.

The hum is back. It soft and low, but it is there, and you know it's right.

You are the cold and the cold is you. You are ice and he is snow. He is gentle and soft and you are broken and unforgiving.

You've made a mistake. You are both of winter, but you are not the same. He is a snow-covered land and you are a frozen lake. Anyone who steps near you will fall and drown and freeze and it will be  _so painful_.

Your body makes it easier for you.

Before you know what you've done, your icy-glass shoes have taken you inside the castle. Your hand is raised in front of you, commanding the doors to close. Your mind is warm but your body is cold, because your mind does not understand, but your body does. 

The doors slam shut. You are shaking. You are alone.

He is safe.

You press your back against the doors and feel nothing. You slide to the floor roughly, but don't feel when you hit the ground. 

The warm thoughts of Jack and his gaze and his eyes and his arms and his hug melt from your brain and trickle into your eyes and out of them, his memory the only thing that has ever made your tears warm.

Your lips form the words clumsily, but you cannot bear to speak them, for fear they might shatter the castle you have built within yourself to protect the outside world from you.

_He's safe._


	12. Jack: Call Her

You crash against the doors. They don't budge.

You hold yourself with one hand and you slam the fist of your other one with all the strength you can muster; all the  _pain_ is leaving you and gathering in the ice.

 _Elsa, Elsa, Elsa_.

You feel it.

You feel her warmth, you  _know_ you do. She's just behind this door and you're so,  _so_ close to her. 

You thought you could see her and walk away, but you  _can't_. It doesn't matter that you fought, it doesn't matter that you hurt her, that you  _hurt_ her so long ago, because you know she needs you. She  _needs_ you. She needs  _you_.

You've seen it in her eyes. They were blue and desperate and sad and broken and they were shattered glass and icy cold and a gray sky ready to hail, buy it was  _there_.

Behind her eyes, you saw the glimmer. It  _called_ you.  _  
_

 _Jack Jack Jack Jack,_ it said. And your heart beat against it, against every pound in her soft skin, your mind screamed back at you,  _Elsa Elsa Elsa_.

And now you pound with all your might against the frozen doors, and they take your strength and your pain and your sadness and everything you've ever felt, and they become stronger with your failure because you  _can't_ open the doors and it's draining your  _life_.

"Elsa!" You find your voice. Its low and a little cracked, but it sounds  _right_ when you say her name. "Elsa, please,"

_Elsa please, please open the door, please look at me, please let me see you_

_Please please please_

You hear her voice again, like a breath of fresh air.

"Go away..." she speaks, but her tone betrays her words, you  _know_ it does. You  _know_ she wants to drown you in winter, but there is something in her voice that reminds you of spring and joy and warmth, and it just doesn't let go of you, and you know its  _right_.

"I'm not leaving." You don't know where your words are born, or where they go. You just feel them bloom in your lips and slip away into nothing, becoming part of the doors. "I'm not leaving until you open the door."

And you know that you mean it.

* * *

Your heart is trying to cut itself free of your chest.

You feel the knife as it precisely bites at everything inside of you to wretch it free. Every word he speaks makes it hurt all the more.

"I'm not leaving," you hear his muffled voice.

_He's not he's not he's not_

_he'll stay Elsa, he'll stay and you won't be alone no you won't and it will be okay, it will be okay, Elsa_

You cover your ears. You're not hearing these words, these are your wishes and they're  _not_ real, Elsa, they're  _not_ and you cannot listen to them cause he will leave and you will be alone  _alone alone_ again and you will feel the cold after the warmth and it will finally break you.

"I'm not leaving until you open the door." You hear.

Please, Jack,  _please_

And you don't know what you're asking. Please leave? Please stay?  _Please break the doors down?_

No, you can't Elsa, you  _can't_.

 _He's lying,_ you hear the voice in your head,  _he won't stay._

"Jack... just go." you say weakly, and now you realize that you have fallen on the ground and the door is against your back. You are not crying because you have no more tears anymore.

When his voice comes, it sounds a lot closer, like he's fallen to the ground as well.

"No." Its weak and sad and almost defeated and it burns your eyes with wretchedness.

_You wicked Elsa look what you're doing_

He speaks again.

"I'm staying." he says. "I won't leave until I see you."

And this is just enough to rip your heart free from its cage. You body is numb and your mind watches blankly as it becomes a puppet of something else...

Of desperation and selfishness.

You raise your hand and you feel the door unlock.

Slowly, it swings open.

You hold your breath as the pale moonlight becomes the first guest in your castle.

* * *

Your thoughts become a whistlein your head as the door swings open only so slightly. 

It looks so casual --so careless, as if she had just forgotten to close the door behind her.

As if the door she closed on you all those years ago had always been left ajar.

And for the first time in forever, you are man enough to open it.

* * *

The door opens widely and you look up to see him.

His hair glows in the moonlight and it reminds you of that lovely friend you had from childhood, when you and he were all there was in the world.

His eyes find you so quickly, as if he's always known where you are, and when they do, there is only one word in one beat in your head.

 _Home_.

"Elsa..." he whispers, and you do not move, because you are not Elsa, and you cannot control your limbs. He steps closer so softly, as if he fears that you will disappear into the mists.

 _Silly Jack. Ice doesn't go away_.

He kneels to the ground in front of you, and his hand,  _so slowly_ , approaches your face.

* * *

Your hand has a mind of its own, and its getting closer to her. She's watching you like a frightened little dear but she does not move away and you can't  _not_ touch her. You've been waiting  _so long_ and your body  --she  _calls_ your hand to touch her face, just to  _know_ she's there.

And your hand touches her cheek so slowly, and you feel the porcelain and the life beat through your fingertips, and it wakes the blood in you for the first time in hundreds of years, as if it has only been sleeping all this time.

She wakes your blood and you seem to wake her soul. She regains posture and her eyes hold yours, and you feel as if heat tries to go in your face, but that's not possible, is it?

You look at her in awe, and everything around you disappears into darkness.

* * *

 

There is nothing around you. You feel no ice. You feel no wind and no breath and no beats of your heart. For the first time in forever the voice in your head is asleep, and it is quiet enough for you to focus, and you are so grateful for it, because you would not have ever wanted to miss his next words.

"I am here," he whispers, and you feel almost ready to burst into snowflakes and fly away. "I'm here to stay,"

You feel your hand against his coat and reach his face, and now you finally see it for the first time.

He really is here.

 

 

 

 


	13. Jack: Observe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say in my defense for taking so long to update.

Your breath is caught inside of you. You're frozen in time and place and there is nothing inside of you that's moving.

Your body is terrified of dispelling the illusion.

Because that's what this is, right? It can't possibly be anything else.

You are not, in fact, on your knees in a castle made of ice. You cannot  _possibly_ be holding Little Princess Elsa, that beautiful little girl with a hesitant smile and wide eyes--

Wide eyes that are staring right back at you.

Oh  _God_ , she's here.

Everything in you coils in itself for a moment, every part of the water in you freezing into a single snowflake for just a second, because you've pulled her close to you. You can't help it, its not your body that's pulling her close, because you wouldn't  _dare_.

Would you?

"Jack," she breathes against your coat and you swear the warmth of her whispered breath seeps in through the threads of your coat and caresses your skin like nothing ever has before. You press her closer against you. 

This  _is_  you.

And your arms are wrapped around her, that little girl you met, so frightened of the world--  _so frightened of herself_ , you chide-- and her eyes are closed and her face is pressed against your chest because she's hiding from every thing. 

Everything except you.

So you pull her closer and rest your chin on top of her head, like you did when she was young. There are snowflakes holding her hair in place, long and braided and a shade of moonlight so exquisite that you have to wonder for a second if the Moon is jealous of her.

She is trailed by what for a moment you thought to be a lake in the middle of spring, but quickly realize is just a dress. Her ankles are neatly folded, peeking out from under her side in glorious snowflake shoes.

She is made of a thousand crystals and you can barely breathe.

There is a little flower of warmth that blooms in your chest and climbs to your throat and wants to break out of your lips, but you don't want it to leave, so you chase it until it rolls off your lips and falls limply on her hair.

"Elsa," her body goes still at the sound of her name. Its so, so lovely to hear yourself say her name again, "Elsa, I missed you."

The thick wall of glass between you cracks, just a little.

Just enough to know that it is possible to break.

You feel her tug away from you, and you hate it. You hate the idea of her pulling away and taking the warmth -- _her warmth_ \-- with her. But you let her.

She sits up a little. Her back is doubled over, as if she doesn't have the strength to carry herself. Her fingers are intertwined at the end of your coat, the only thing that seems to show some sort of life that dangles from her limp arms.

She raises her head just a fraction, and her wide, blue  _beautiful_ eyes take you in. They sparkle like a melting river the first days of spring, and you can't look away--

\--because there is a shadow that ran through them.

You can't help it. You frown. Elsa freezes, and you realize she's scared.

You school your face back into kindness. Into the boundless joy of seeing her, astonishing and strong and wonderful and powerful and free.

She wants to say something, you know it. She's as afraid of you disappearing as you are afraid for her. A little coal in the furnace of your bones lights up and gives you courage.

Without thinking too much, your lips press against the skin of her forehead.

Warm. Soft. Real.

 _Alive_.

And that little coal is gone, but it hasn't burnt out. 

Its as if that tiny piece of friendship --that tiny forehead kiss

\-- _Jack I'm sleepy can you read me something? You can't go to bed without saying goodnight to me whre's my kiss no Jack I'm too old for a kiss--_

was enough for that little coal to slip through your lips and mingle in her skin and let the blood wash it away into all of her.

Her back straightens a little. Not like a princess, but like a woman.

Her brows raise and you see the slightest tug of a smile in her lips. Her hands find your face, both sides of it, and she stares at every inch of it.

"You..." she whispers, "you have not changed in the slightest." There's wonder and melancholy in her words.

Your hands are not your hands and your fingers are actually little sickles of ice that you can't control, but they somehow manage to rest just under her chin, keeping her face towards you. You feel the pulsing of her life against your fingertips.

"You have grown so much." Wow. If you thought  _her_ voice sounded wondrous and melancholic...

The tug of her lips becomes a little more of a smile. "Its been so long..." She breathes, and it hurts you that she says it.

You smile at her, and no  _you're_ studying every inch of her face. Your furnace burns warmer. "Never again." You say, and you mean it.

She blinks and --there! There's that flicker. That little shadow. Behind her eyes, there's something. 

But right now its hard to see it. Its hard to look past the face of Elsa.

Its hard to look past the pain you swear you feel on every inch of her skin. Its as if every crack and crevice in this castle was made deliberately to remind her of everything she's suffered before.

Alone.

 _But no more_ , you swear silently to yourself and sit up straighter, managing to get on your feet. She watches you quietly, like an owl, and when you present her your hand, she looks at it for a moment. Her left hand twitches a bit, as if ready to take it, but she pulls back and offers you her right hand.

As she raises to her feet, you see a queen of solitude, the bravest hint of a tiny smile on her lips, ready to be swayed by the wind.

You make yourself smile and look around you.

"You just  _have_ to teach me how you did this."

The shadow vanishes. Her smile brightens. 

You've never been out of breath before.


	14. Elsa: Show Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ho ho ho
> 
> its funny cause i never update but when i do its like 3 chapters in as many days and idk why that is

"You've  _got_ to show me how to do this."

He is impressed. 

There is a little pain in your face. Your hand touches your own cheek gingerly, and you realize that the pain comes from the smile that was pulled out of your very core.

It has been so long since you last smiled. Sweet heavens, you had forgotten what it felt like for your lips to stretch like this, and what it was for your eyes to crinkle just a little bit. You did not remember that it came with a little surge of spring in your chest, or that it made the tips of your fingers tingle in a way even more special than your magic ever has.

"Okay," You say, and wow, your voice sounds so different! You... you like it. "Okay, I will show you."

You spend hours like that with Jack. You teach him hand motions and little spurts of power and ice and how to make everything glitter and reflect light. You show him everything; every movement (without the dancing and singing of course!) and every flick of the wrist, and your heart blooms with joy at his attentive ears and his eyes filled with joy and a little something else.

You try to hide the word. That other thing in his eyes --in his whole demeanor. Because it cannot be. He cannot possibly lo--

 _Of course he doesn't._ Something inside you whispers. _Nobody does._

You were in the middle of creating an ice sculpture of a reindeer, when your hand drops to your side, as if that little whisper managed to throw everything inside you against the floor.

 _You can't be loved._ It speaks in your head, louder.  _Anna doesn't love you. Your parents didn't love you. Jack doesn't love you._

You feel your fingers curl up, one by one. You want to hide into yourself again.

 _But he is here_ , you tell yourself.

 _But he won't stay._ It tells you.

 _He promised,_ you insist.

_Since when does that mean anything?_

You turn sharply when you feel a tight grip on your wrist --almost painful-- and you look up to find Jack looking at you, only a few inches taller than you.

"What's going on?" His voice is soft, but he is demanding. It is a gentle order.

"Nothing," you pull your hand back. You are so foolish. He will not stay.

The grip is a little tighter and his other hand presses its fingers gently under your chin to make you look up. He stares at you intensely, looking for something behind you.

 _Pull away,_  something in you roars, angrier than anything you have ever felt.

"What are you _doing_?" You snap and step back from him. There is quelled rage in you, but it is not yours. Something inside you ignites it, but you do not want this fire. His hands do not slip and you remain trapped in his grip. "Jack,  _let me go!"_

He pulls you closer, a serious expression in his face. He looks worried... almost scared.

 _Get out, now!_ The voice roars.

You cannot help it. Fear leaks through your fingers and into the ground and there is ice surrounding Jack, a little icicle  stopping just below his neck. He watches you, bewildered.

 _Oh god,_ _what did I do?_  

"Elsa," his voice is scared. 

_Oh god oh god oh god he is scared of you Elsa you made him afraid of you he is going to leave leave leave you because you are a disaster you are terrible you hurt him first Anna and then Jack and your parents and your kingdom oh god oh god oh god Elsa why_

"Elsa, please listen to me." He begs. Your eyes fill with tears. You want to  _run_ , but you ran so far already, how much farther can you run? You only notice that your choked sobs sound strange after several seconds, when you realize that your hands are both over your mouth, as if your own body was horrified of you.

"There's something." He says, as if he were looking for the words. "There's--"

You cover your eyes with your hands.

 _Make him quiet._ The voice in your head says. 

"Stop," you choke. Jack is still stuttering.

"Elsa, there's something inside of you. I saw it, its making you do this!"

Your world stops for a moment.

_What?_

_He's lying._ The voice in you speaks.  _He wants you to let him free. He'll hurt you back._

"I saw it, Elsa, I  _swear_!" You hear him struggle against the prison around his arms. Your face still hides behind your hands. "There's a shadow. I saw it since I arrived! Your eyes went cloudy before this happened. I don't know what it is, but I  _swear_ I will help you!"

 _Get rid of him_ , the voice says. You fight it.

"Jack..." Your voice is a hoarse whisper.

 _GET RID OF HIM_ , it screams in your head, over and over and over and over and over.

"Elsa!" You stop. Your heart and your breath and your blood stop. You look up at Jack for a second, but his face mirrors your own. It was not him who spoke.

"Anna," you choke.

She is here.

_Oh god oh god oh god no_

Why now? Why did she come now?

 _Tell Anna to go and then get rid of Jack._ The voice in your head presses, and your body is heavy. You cannot fight it. Raising your stare, you meet Jack's gaze miserably.

"Why did she come?" You sound broken and pathetic. Your voice is dry ice skittering over glass. A tear slides down your cheek.

"Elsa, listen to me. Its dangerous for you to see her like this. You  _need_ to calm down." From where you stand you can see him still fight his restraints, using his own magic to destroy them, but he cannot mold away something you already did, just as you cannot mold something he made. You are each other's limit. "I promise we're gonna fix it, but you  _need_ to let me help you."

But tears are spilling from your eyes and you are wiping them away with the cold palm of your hand and the only sound in you is the pounding voice smashing against your head.

_Tell Anna to go before you hurt her again. Again and again and again._

You raise a shaking left hand towards Jack and  _push_ from within you, everything around him slipping silently outside of the doors to your castle and closing up again.

You wipe your tears and go to face Anna.

* * *

 

No

_No no no no no no no no_

You lost control again.

 _Oh god no not again how how how could you do this you saw her just for a little moment and she was happy to see you she was not scared but then you struck struck_ struck her,  _Elsa and how could you do that how could you lose control again what if you'd hurt her now she will never see you again and she will hate hate hate you_

 _But she's safe_ , the voice says,  _safe from you_.

And it gives you some sense of peace, because she is safe.

She is safe and you are alone once again.

"Alone," you whisper, and it echoes across the ice and away from you.

Until the doors burst open and men you had never seen before aim a crossbow at your face.

You hear the  _thwang_ of a shot.

 _Let it_ , the voice says, and your arms stay limp at your sides, waiting for the strike with eyes closed.

When it does not come, you open them. There is a wall of ice risen in front of you. ç

What..?

"Touch her," his voice floats over your shoulder, a quiet rage you had never known to be able to live in him, "and you will pay  _dearly_."

The words are sharper than the bold frozen in place in front of you. You dare not turn around. You do not want to face  _him_. 

A man with red hair looks at you from afar, his eyes dangerous, but his face calm.

"Your highness," he speaks politely, a thinly veiled threat if you ever heard one. "Please, come with us."

You step back, and stumble against Jack, but he doesn't budge. His face is closed in a fierceness that you have never known. He stares at the men at the door.

" _Leave_ ," his voice sends gooseflesh down your arm.

Movement catches your eye, just to the side. 

You turn just in time to see one of the men with crossbows direct it towards Jack, and can barely manage to blast him from the ground upwards, accidentally setting the bolt loose.

You hear the chandelier sing softly, just like the crystal melodies you and Jack used to create before your name is ripped out of his throat and you feel his arms around you and your shoulder against his chest and the air being punched out of you as you hit the ground together.

Your last thought before blacking out is that his arms are still around you and that you feel a little cold.

 


	15. Get Her Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boo dee doo i'm in switzerland
> 
> tra la la
> 
> i'm eating a lot of cheese

Your tattered coat is no fit pillow for a queen, but you dare not rest her head on your lap.

You woke up a few minutes-- or maybe it was hours-- ago and used the only pseudo soft thing you had on you so that her gentle face would not have to rest on the unforgiving, frozen ground.

She sleeps soundly and doesn't stir at all. Every crease of fear in her face is smoothed into relaxation, making her look almost like the chid you knew. Something inside you wonders how long has it been since she has slept this soundly, for her eyes had looked tired when you saw her.

 _Her eyes_.

You sit up and watch her closely.

You are sure there was something there. There was this-- this  _shadow_ in the back of her eyes. It was something that would darken her gaze, like clouds in front of the moon. It made everything about her just a shade darker, and you could see how, when that shadow crossed her eyes, her face would soon follow, and then the rest of her body would slump into sadness and you--

\--You can't stand to see that.

Please, let you do anything,  _anything at all_ , but please, may you never have to see that shadow again.

That shadow is your enemy. It's everything that you could hate in a world that is not yours. You are Jack Frost, and that  _thing_ does not belong in your world.

Elsa stirs, just a little. You still.

You still cannot believe that this beautiful queen is what your sweet little friend grew up to be.

She wears shadows of solitude in her eyes, and the shade of sadness hanging upon her lips. Her hair is pulled back by a wave of coldness and fear, and everythign about her irradiates the loneliness that she has been subject to for al these years.

You don't need to ask what happened in Arendelle. You can figure it out.

Somehow she lost control, and now-- now they've got her trapped like she's something dangerous --like she's some sort of  _animal_ that they have to keep behind bars to be safe. 

You ty to clench your fist ut feel only pain. The hackles that they have given you leave no room for movement. To avoid the use of magic, you think.

Once again, she shifts. This time a little more. She stirs awake and opens her eyes like a butterfly unfolding her wings.

"J-Jack...?" She asks, her voice like freshly fallen snow. You half smile at her, because you don't want her to feel the dreadfulness of your situation.

"Hey, you're up." You smile, and this time is for real. Because something in Elsa's eyes just reaches in through your mouth and steals a smile from a box in your self and plasters it on your lips.

She tries to move, awkwardly, but the shackles stop her. You move closer, just as awkwardly, and try to help her up without the use of your hands. All in all, it is an awkward and slow process, but you cannot help but appreciate how close you feel to her. She flops against a wall and you see dismay falling like drops across her face.

"Hey, hey," you say and draw closer to her. "Elsa, look at me," you demand gently. She raises her huge, star filled eyes at you and for a second you forget to breathe.

Not that you need to, but you do anyways.

"Elsa, I need you to listen to what I'm about to say, alright?"

"How are you in shackles...?" She wonders idly, and then, more alarmed. "How did they see you? I thought nobody was supposed to be able to!"

You sigh, frustrated. "I can only be seen when people believe in me. The more people do, the more real I become... Since they know to believe in magic... it was easier to make the transition to something a little more elaborate... like a Winter spirit."

Elsa looks like she's going to rub her face, but the shackles stop her. Her face crumples, and just like that, so does your heart. But you've gotta be strong.

"Hey, hey... its okay." You say gently, drawing as close as you dare. "We'll get out of here, okay?"

"Jack, I struck Anna." She sobs. Your world stops.

"What?"

"it was an accident," sob. "She just wouldn't go away." Sob. "I warned her, I  _did_ , but she just-- and now she--"

You reach deep, deep within you, and you can only find the desire to wrap your arms around her and protect her. It is so, so strong, that you cannot stop the ice from reaching your fingers and freezing even these shackles, and tear them to pieces.

You gingerly draw your hands from the rubble and get close to Elsa, wrapping her in your arms so gently you would think she was made of crystal.

"I'm gonna fix this," you say, though you don;t know where the words are coming from." I don't know how, but I swear I will."

Elsa's shoulders slump in your embrace, and you can  _feel_ how tired she is. And she looked so peaceful sleeping just a few minutes ago...

You grab her by the shoulders and look into her eyes.

"Elsa, I need you to listen."

"What--"

"Please don;t interrupt. Its important." She nods. "There is something in you. I don;t know how it got there, or even what it is, but there's something, and I think that's what causing all of this."

She looks terrified for a second, then she shifts her gaze to the left, and then the right, one after the other, as if she were having a conversation with herself, and you  _know_ its lying to her. You tighten your grip on her arms.

"Elsa  _please,_ you've  _got_ to believe me. I swear I'm gonna get it out, but I  _need_ you to trust me."

She looks at you, terrified, horrified, broken and nervous, and nods.

You smile, just a little.

"Let's get out of here."


End file.
